JulianAbonce Innovation for Perfection

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After starting my cafe classes, I notice we were released from class sooner which meant I was able to get home sooner. Extra time at home also meant a little extra time before going to work.

In my spare time I looked for different ways to motivate myself towards what I feel is my ultimate culinary goal which is to be a chef. This Industry is still very young which means that every stone hasn’t

been overturned, not everything has been discovered and with it being so fast passed sometimes it’s hard to stop and get ideas. One day as I was flipping through the channels before work I did as I

usually do and stopped as I at the food network to try and get pumped up for my night rush.

Normally around this time your would have to see Rachel Ray but for some strange reason Anthony Bourdain’s show, No Reservations was on. After sitting through the first five minuets of this

show on the country of Spain, I was hooked and had to sit through the whole thing. I didn’t have much time before I needed to go to work so I was lucky enough to catch the highlighted ending about a

restaurant called Etxebarri (ET-OO-BAR-EEE) . What I saw blew me away and made me understand why this would be a highlight. This restaurant was owned by Victor Auganzones who is a self trained cook and an ex-forester.

He took classic spanish cooking and fine dinning style and added his own signature mark to it.

His special mark wasn’t a type of seasoning or sauce it was his inventions, literally. He built his own wood heating furnace and also built multiple wood burning grills. All of this really caught my attention

because I’m some what of an inventor myself. The idea itself was a bit mind blowing to me because the fact that someone stopped and said how can I make something that is almost perfect and make it better.

With so much room for mistake and error he took this chance to separate himself from the rest. Each order that came in from his restaurant received its very own batch of chard wood that was collected daily.

Every tool in his kitchen was custom and could be modified to best prepare the desired dish. On the show he cooked everything from fresh caviare to Lobster on these grills that had multiple crank and pulley

systems which allowed the food to be properly positioned to the heat source. Each position was marked so that the proper cooking method was consistent.

After watching this snippet it was clear to see that with a little practice, work ethic and imagination , there is always room to grow.